Other books that might interest you

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  The Poetry of W H Davies

  W. H. Davis

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  A collection of the finest poetry by the Welsh poet W. H. Davies.

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  Meister Eckhart's Book of...

  Meister Eckhart, Jon M Sweeney,...

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  “Within each of us is a divine treasure, and if we hope to discover it we need to go deep into the heart of who we are.”—Meister Eckhart Meister Eckhart has been a huge influence on spirituality for more than 800  years, including to philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, Eckhart Tolle, Richard Rohr, D. T. Suzuki, Rudolf Steiner, and Matthew Fox—all crediting Eckhart as being an important influence on their thought.   This book of Meister Eckhart meditations is for people seeking the “wayless way.” It is not for those looking for a simple path. Many people in our time still go looking for a straight path toward a defined goal, without detours, led by a guide who tells them what to do and what not to do. They would be uncomfortable with Meister Eckhart—a Christian mystic from the century of Rumi and Francis of Assisi—who said to “take leave of God for the sake of God.” And, “Learn not to love in order that you may learn to love.” And, “All things are equal and alike in God and are God.”   These fresh, stunning renderings of his writings in poetic form bring life to one of the great spiritual voices of any age. They reveal what it means to love God and find meaning in darkness. In a culture that craved light—and what culture does not?—Eckhart dared to imagine that the darkness is what matters most. Not darkness in general, but your darkness, because it is the one thing you know something about, and without facing your darkness, you’ll never know what it means to desire the light. You’ll never even imagine what light is about. Only when you are in the darkness, Meister says, do you have even the possibility of seeing the light.

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  The Poetry of Thomas Chatterton...

  Thomas Chatterton

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  Thomas Chatterton was born in Bristol on 20th November 1752 some 15 weeks after the death of his father. For a time he was admitted to Edward Colston's Bristol charity school, on a limited curriculum of reading, writing, arithmetic and the catechism. 
    
  Although fascinated by the church of St Mary Redcliffe where his uncle was sexton, he was liable to fits of abstraction, sitting for hours in a trance or crying for no reason. When Chatterton was 8 he was so eager for books that he would read and write all day long and by 11 he had become a contributor to Felix Farley's Bristol Journal. He lived in thought with his 15th-century heroes and heroines. 
    
  The first of his literary mysteries, the dialogue of "Elinoure and Juga," was written before he was 12, and he showed it to the usher at the boarding school Colston's Hospital where he was a pupil, pretending it was the work of a 15th-century poet. Chatterton remained a boarder at Colston's Hospital for more than six years. His little pocket-money was spent borrowing books from a circulating library and always attempting to ingratiate himself with book collectors. 
    
  His holidays were mostly spent at his mother's house, and much of that in the attic study living for the most part in an ideal world of his own, centered on his mid-15th century imaginary world. 
    
  Chatterton soon conceived the romance of Thomas Rowley, an imaginary monk of the 15th century, and adopted for himself the pseudonym Thomas Rowley for poetry and history. He imagined he would become a famous poet who by his talents would be able to rescue his mother from poverty. 
    
  Chatterton needed a patron. Many were not interested. Horace Walpole was but discovering that the poems were most probably fake and Chatterton himself only 16 scornfully sent him away. 
    
    
    
  Badly hurt by Walpole's snub, Chatterton wrote very little for a summer. Then he turned his attention to periodical literature and politics, and the London periodicals. He was frequently published but received little reward for his startling efforts. 
    
  Chatterton wrote at Easter 1770, ‘‘Last Will and Testament,’’ a satirical mix in jest and seriousness. The will was possibly prepared so that John Lambert, the attorney to whom he was apprenticed, cancelled his indentures. His friends and acquaintances, having donated money, Chatterton proceeded to London. 
    
  He continued to write and publish in various styles and was paid little for his efforts. He wrote hopefully to his mother and sister, and spent his first earnings in buying gifts for them. 
    
  In June 1770, after nine weeks in London, he moved from a shared room in Shoreditch to an attic in Brook Street, Holborn. He now enjoyed uninterrupted solitude and now could write all night. The romance of his earlier years revived, and he transcribed from an imaginary parchment of the old priest Rowley his "Excelente Balade of Charitie." This poem, disguised in archaic language, he sent to the editor of the Town and Country Magazine, where it was rejected. 
    
  A neighbouring apothecary, repeatedly invited him to come for dinner or supper; but he refused. His landlady also, suspecting his necessity, pressed him to share her dinner, but in vain. "She knew," as she afterwards said, "that he had not eaten anything for two or three days." But he assured her that he was not hungry. 
    
  In August 1770, while walking in St Pancras Churchyard, Chatterton was much absorbed in thought, and did not notice a newly dug open grave in his path, and subsequently tumbled into it. His walking companion helped Chatterton out of the grave, and told him that he was happy in assisting at the resurrection of a genius. Chatterton replied, "My dear friend, I have been at war with the grave for some time now." 
   
  On 24th August 1770, Thomas Ch

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  Helen (NHB Modern Plays)

  Maureen Lennon

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  Helen is forty when she loses her husband. Her daughter Becca is fifteen when her dad dies. Now it's just the two of them… what do they do next?
  Unfolding through snapshots of a relationship over forty years, Helen explores the threads which bind mother and daughter together, how they damage each other, and how they come to each other's rescue.
  A play for two actors – about love, grief, and getting ashes stuck to your trouser leg – Helen by Maureen Lennon was shortlisted for the 2020 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award. It was first produced at Theatre503, London, in 2023, in a co-production with Terrain, a company dedicated to promoting Northern artists and the stories they tell.
  'Powerful… wrenchingly sad… successfully captures that dislocating out-of-body feeling that can accompany profound grief, and there are some truthful moments of humour and tenderness, too' - The Stage
  'Feels real… the dialogue is strong and natural… poignant with touches of humour' - Reviews Hub
  'Brisk, intense and with a strong emotional hit' - London Pub Theatres
  'A deeply poignant and profound look at how grief can impact a life… beautifully written… hugely recommended' - There Ought To Be Clowns

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  Fifty Cents

  Billy Mortimer

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  LibriVox volunteers bring you 10 recordings of Fifty Cents by Billy Mortimer. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for August 21, 2011.Originally published in 1881 as a song, with music by Dan Lewis. (Summary by TriciaG)

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  Short Poetry Collection 091

  Various Various

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  This is a collection of poems read by LibriVox volunteers for the month of September and October 2010.

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